Method of making chewing gum and chewing gum product



United States Patent F METHOD OF MAKING CHEWING GUM AND CHEWING GUM PRODUCT Franklin Kramer, Lexington, Harold Rosenthal, Newtonville, and Arthur F. Tole, Melrose, Mass., assignors to General Foods Corporation, White Plains, N .Y., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Appplication February 24, 1959 Serial No. 794,857

9 Claims. (Cl. 99135) Patented May 12, 1959 ferred to use gelatin having a Bloom less than 50. When slower flavor release is desired, the Bloom preferably will be above about 200. For intermediate degrees of flavor release, it is preferred to use Blooms between these values. Although the pH of the gelatin solution employed may fall within the range of 2 to 10, it is preferred that it be maintained in the acid region, e.g. 2 to 7.

In carrying out the process of this invention, a gelatin solution to be drum-dried may be formed containing e.g. 5-100, say 50 parts of gelatin, per 100 parts of water, the latter being preferably at temperature of 90 F.180 F.,

' say 120 F., during dissolution of the gelatin. A gelatin or certain comestible natural or synthetic resins or waxes.

Incorporated with the gum base, and in intimate admixture therewith, may be plasticizers or softening agents, e.g., glycerine; flavoring agents, e.g. oil of Wintergreen, oil of spearmint, oil of peppermint, licorice, fruit flavors,

spice oils, etc.; or sweetening agents which may be including sucrose or dextrose and/or they may be artificial sweeteners such as cyclamates or saccharin. Other optionalingredients may also be present.

'It is found that when most flavored chewing gums, such as slab gums, are chewed the initial preception of flavor appears after a minute or more at a low level, and after three or four minutes of chewing the flavor intensity drops to an uninteresting level. It is also found upon analysis, that gum chewed for as long as thirty minutes may retain as much as 60% of the flavor initially present, and that this proportion of the flavoring agent is thus not effectively used.

It is an object of this invention to provide a chewing gum containing a flavoring composition characterized by an extended period of controlled flavor release. A second object of this invention is to provide a chewing gum containing a flavoring composition which is similar in flavor character to that of the original oil. A third object of this invention is to increase the total amount of flavor released during the chewing period of gums containing the herein described flavoring composition. A fourth object of this invention is to permit reduction in the amount of flavoring oil necessary to obtain a desired flavor level in a chewing gum. Other objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled-in-the-art from the following detailed description of the invention.

It has now been discovered that it is possible to obtain quired. This flavoring composition comprises a drumdried emulsion of discrete micro-droplets of a volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent dispersed in finely divided particles of gelatin. Preparation of the flavoring composition employed in the chewing gum product of this invention may be effected by emulsifying the flavor ing agent in an aqueous solution of the gelatin and drumdrying the so-formed emulsion.

The gelatin which may be employed in this invention may be any of the grades and types of gelatin, includingv those obtained from e.g. tanners stock, ossein, pigskin, The Bloom of the gelatin which is employed may;

etc. vary widely. When a rapid release is desired, it is presolution containing this concentration of gelatin, as typically obtained during gelatin recovery operations may be used.

Prior to drum drying of the gelatin solution and preferably after cooling to F. to 140 F., say F., the desired volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent may be added to the solution and homogenized to form an emulsion. The flavoring agents which may be employed include oil of peppermint, oil of Spearmint, fruit essences, licorice, spice oils and the like. The selected flavoring agent may be added in amount of 10% to 100%, say 50% by weightof the gelatin.

The gelatin solution, preferably at a temperature of at least about 75 F. and preferably at less than about F., e.g. 100 F. may thence be spread or evenly distributed onto the surface of a rotating drum in the form of thin film of gelatin solution. The heated surface of the drum on which the gelatin film is distributed will typically be at a temperature of about 212 F.-250 F. However, preferred results are obtained in accordance with the technique of this invention when this temperature is maintained at about 250 F. Surface temperature of the drum may be about 90 F.l50 F. higher than the temperature of the charge gelatin solution. When the charge gelatin solution is at 100 F., the surface of the drum may be at about 250 F.; the surface temperature of the drum may be obtained by e.g. steam pressure within the drum, such pressure being preferably in the order of about 16 p.s.i.g. which gives a drum surface temperature of about 250 F.

Under these conditions, the temperature of the gelatin discharge from the drum drying operation will typically be not more than about 212 F.

If the surface of the drum is at a temperature lower than about 230 F., drying will be slow; the product will have a somewhat faster flavor liberation when employed in the manner hereinafter described in detail, when the drum temperature is 230 F.-250 F. If that temperature is much higher than about 250 F. and especially if it is above about 265 F., the gelatin product may become hardened and the gelatin-flavor when used as hereinafter described, will permit attainment of a chewing gum having a somewhat longer flavor release period.

Under preferred conditions of drum drying, the pres-. sure (i.e. vacuum) above the gelatin solution will be maintained at about 50-100 mm. Hg during the drum drying. Suitable results, however, may be obtained by evaporation at atmospheric pressure. The drum will preferably be rotated at slow speeds--0.2-1.25 r.p.m.

Preferably the gelatin containing flavor will be dried to a low moisture content approaching 0% moisture; it is found, however, that particularly favorable results are obtained when the moisture content of the gelatin is 4-10%, say 10%.

The drum dried gelatin may be removed from the drum surface by means of a doctor blade. The product, obtained in the form of crumpled thin sheets, may be ground typically to 20-400, say -270 mesh. The

resultant material comprises a drum-dried emulsionof discrete micro-droplets of a volatile water immiscible flavoring agent dispersed within finely divided particles of gelatin.

Formation of flavored chewing gum may be effected by mixing from 3% to 30%, say 15% by weight of flavoring composition with from 70% to 97%, say 85 by weight of gum base. Typically the gum base will be chicle, although it may be jelutong, guttakay, etc. Other ingredients including sweetening agents, coloring agents, etc. may be present in desired amount.

Although the chewing gums of this invention may be prepared from a single flavoring agent, it is possible to extend the range of properties of the gum by use of combinations of two or more flavoring compositions. For example, it is possible to separately prepare dry flavoring compositions from gelatins of various Blooms, and then to add these compositions toa gum. Such a chewing gum may for example contain a mixture of flavoring compositions prepared from a low Bloom gelatin (characterized by a rapid flavor release) and a high Bloom gelatin (characterized by a slow flavor release). The properties of the chewing gum product will be intermediate to the properties obtained from each of the flavoring compositions when used separately. Specifically if a flavoring composition formed from 50 Bloom gelatin is mixed with a flavoring composition formed. from 200 Bloom gelatin, and the mixture is added to a chewing gum, the product may have a flavor release which is substantially more even over the chewing period than. isthe case when a single flavoring compositionzis employed.

Similarly it is possible to modify the properties of the product gum by use of mixtures of flavoring compositions characterized by different ratios of gelatin to oil. Ifa composition containing flavoring agent by weight of gelatin is mixed with one containing 100% flavoring agent by weight of gelatin (i.e. equal parts of. gelatin and flavoring agent), the resulting blend-of flavoring composition will yield a chewing gum having a more even liberation of flavor than is obtained by use of either flavoring agent alone.

Controlled liberation of flavor of the product chewing gum, may also be obtained by using mixtures of flavoring compositions (a) of different particle size, the resulting gum deriving much of its initial flavor from the smaller particles and much of its later flavor from the larger particles; or (b) formed from gelatins of different pH, the composition formed from gelatin of higher pH (e.g. 9) giving quick release of flavor, while that formed from lower pH (e.g. 2.5) giving slower release.

It is also possible to obtain chewing gum products having extended flavor liberation time by use. of the herein described fixed flavors in combination with unfixed flavors, whereby the initial flavor sensation may be derived fom the unflxed flavor and the later sensation from. the fixed flavor. A particularly desirable product contains unfixed flavor and drum-dried flavor in about. equal proportions. g

The resulting chewing gum may include an all enveloping mass of gum base such as. chicle, within which is substantially uniformly distributed particles of gelatin-. escapsulated flavoring agent. Although the mixing procedure followed may result in transfer of some of the flavoring agent from the gelatin-encapsulation to the gum, substantially all of the flavoring agent, which was admitted will still be found in the gelatin-encapsulation after mixing.

It is characteristic of this chewing gun product that it retains its flavor under conditions of vigorous chewing for extended periods which may be double that of compositions heretobefore known to those skilled-in-the-art. For example, the flavor perception time may be six minutes or longer, in contrast to the usual three minutes which is the flavor perception time of comparable products heretofore known.

The chewing gum so formed is also characterized by high degree of flavor release. The products herein described may retain as little as 25%35% of the flavor originally present after mastication for 30 minutes. Gums heretofore available, when chewed for the same time, are found to retain as much as 60% of the flavor originally present which is being released at such a slow rate that the intensity of flavor is at an uninteresting level.

The greater availability of flavor by use of the drumdried flavoring compositions herein described also permits attainment of high flavor level in the chewing gum products with use of lower amounts of the flavoring oils.

Chewing gums prepared with the drum-dried flavor composition in accordance with this invention, have a flavor character more nearly that of the original flavor oil than chewing gum prepared by the direct incorporation of the flavoring oil into the chewing gum.

The following specific example will serve to illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention:

Example I According to a specific example of this invention, .25. g. of 255 Bloom gelatin were added to 100 ml. of water at temperature of 150 F. The mixture was agitated until the gelatin completely dissolved and then the solution was cooled to 120 F. Twenty parts by weight of oil of peppermint were added to the solution which was homogenized to form an emulsion. This emulsion was passed into a drum drier maintained at atmospheric pressure. The drums were 6 inches in diameter and rotated at 0.2 r.p.m. Steam pressure within the rotating drum was 16 p.s.i.g. which gave a drum surface temperature of approximately 250 F. Drum dried gelatin was removed from the drum after it had been thereon for twothirds of a revolution. The product, having a moisture content of about 7% was ground to 150-270 mesh.

Comparison of the chewing gum product of this invention with a standard chewing gum containing, the

v same total amount of flavor in unfixed form may be made by means of a taste test. During the tests, 0.5 inch x 0.75 inch x 0.0626 inch slabs of each gum may be separately chewed and the following noted: time and intensity of initial flavor, extent of flavor burst, duration of interesting flavor level, and approximate total time during which flavor was available. In these tests, the rating of flavor intensity can be measured by the person chewing, on a scale ranging from 0 to 10, the level of 1 indicating threshold flavor intensity just discernable to the taste,

- and a level of 10 indicating a maximum intensity above which the sensation originating in the flavor is unpleasant,

The commercially available standard containing unfixed flavor in chicle was characterized by initial indication of flavor at a level of 1 after about 7-8 seconds. Intensity rose to 3 at about 15 seconds, and thereafter at a slower rate to a level of 6 at about seconds. At this point, flavor intensity dropped off to 3 after about 90 seconds. At about 2 minutes, the flavor intensity was at the uninteresting low level of 1.5. After 4 minutes 1 of chewing, the flavor had dropped below the threshold value of 1, and the standard gum was flat and lifeless. The chewing gum of this invention containing the drum dried gelatin-encapsulated flavor is characterized by a flavor liberation which occurs earlier than that of the standard and which may be initially noted at a higher level of intensity than that of the standard. The level of flavor intensity for a chewing gum prepared in accordance with this invention may be found to be above and usually substantially above that of the corresponding, flavor intensity of the standard at any given time. Furthermore, the flavor duration of typical new products will be as much as four or five times as long as that of the standardi.e. it is not uncommon for the product of this invention to be characterized by a flavor life" approaching Ill-minutes or even more whereas the stand ard" is exhausted after about 2-3 minutes.

The term encapsulate, as used herein, means that" after the flavoring oil has been emulsified in the gelatin solution and the gelatin has been drum-dried, each of the very fine particles of gelatin will be found to contain uniformly distributed microdroplets of the flavoring oil.

Although I have herein described a specific example showing certain details of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled-in-the-art that various modifications and changes may be made which come within the scope of this invention.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 778,601 of the same inventors, filed December 8, 1958, for Process for Making Chewing Gum and Product, and of application Serial No. 595,610 of the same inventors, filed July 3, 1956, for Product and Process.

What is claimed is:

1. A chewing gum comprising particles of a drumdried emulsion of discrete micro-droplets of a volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent dispersed in finely divided particles of gelatin, and an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base within which the particles are substantially uniformly distributed.

2. A chewing gum as claimed in claim 1 wherein said chewable gum base within which the particles of drumdried gelatin are substantially uniformly distributed contains free unfixed flavoring agent.

3. A chewing gum comprising particles of a drumdried emulsion of discrete micro-droplets of a volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent dispersed in 20 400 mesh particles of gelatin, and an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base within which the particles are substantially uniformly distributed.

4. A chewing gum comprising 3% to 30% by weight of a drum-dried emulsion of discrete micro-droplets of a volatile water-immiscible flavoring agent dispersed in finely divided particles of gelatin, and 70% to 97% by weight of an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base within which the particles are substantially uniformly distributed.

5. A chewing gum comprising a drum-dried emulsion of a volatile water-immiscible flavoring agent dispersed in the form of discrete micro-droplets in finely divided particles of low Bloom gelatin, and an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base within which the particlesare substantially uniformly distributed.

6. The method of preparing a chewing gum comprising forming a solid drum-dried emulsion of a volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent encapsulated within finely divided particles of gelatin, and substantially uniformly distributing said gelatin-encapsulated flavoring agent within an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base.

7. The method of preparing a chewing gum comprising forming a gelatin solution, mixing therewith a volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent thereby forming an emulsion, drum-drying said emulsion whereby solid gelatin particles are formed containing therewithin said flavoring agent in the form of discrete micro-droplets, and substantially uniformly distributing said gelatin particles containing flavoring agent within an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base.

8. The method of preparing a chewing gum comprising mixing volatile, water-immiscible flavoring agent with a gelatin solution at temperature of about F. F. thereby forming an emulsion, drum-drying and particulating said emulsion to form particles of gelatin each containing said flavoring agent in the form of discrete microdroplets, and incorporating said particles within an allenveloping mass of a chewable gum base.

9. The method of preparing a chewing gum characterized by extended flavor perception time, true flavor character and high degree of flavor release comprising forming a solid drum-dried emulsion of a volatile, waterimmiscible flavoring agent encapsulated within finely divided particles of gelatin, and substantially uniformly distributing said gelatin-encapsulated flavoring agent within an all-enveloping mass of a chewable gum base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,526,039 Arkell et a1. Feb. 10, 1925 1,993,289 Stokes et al Mar. 5, 1935 2,157,839 Wertheimer May 9, 1939 2,258,567 Epstein et a1. Oct. 7, 1941 2,369,847 Olsen et al Feb. 20, 1945 

1. A CHEWING GUM COMPRISING PARTICLES OF A DRUMDRIED EMULSION OF DISCRETE MICRO-DROPLETS OF A VOLATILE, WATER-IMMISCIBLE FLAVORING AGENT DISPERSED IN FINELY DIVIDED PARTICLES OF GELATIN, AND AN ALL-ENVELOPING MASS OF A CHEWABLE GUM BASE WITHIN WHICH THE PARTICLES ARE SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED. 